Home ›› 12 Jun 2022 ›› Corporate
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB) has lauded the proposed national budget for FY2022-23, and termed it as timely and comprehensive to curb inflation and other challenges the country is currently facing.
“Expanding the tax net is necessary for improving the tax-GDP ratio, and the government should take further steps to expand the tax net,” said ICAB President Md Shahadat Hossain in a post-budget reaction at a news conference in CA Bhaban, Dhaka on Saturday.
He laid importance on the tax reform to improve the tax-GDP ratio and increase revenue collection.
“We believe that implementing the document verification system (DVS) in NBR and ICAB will increase government revenue collection. This initiative will further bring transparency and accountability in the financial sector,” he said.
Despite the post-pandemic situation, the Russia-Ukraine war, and other global uncertainties, the government has taken the challenge of implementing a development budget of Tk 2.46 lakh crore, which is a very encouraging step to move forward to a developing country, he said.
The ICAB president lauded the additional allocation for the infrastructure sector, a conditional reduction in tax rates for certain types of companies, changing the rates and areas of withholding taxes, introducing a 12 per cent tax rate for all other general industries exporting goods and services and 10 per cent for green industries.
He also welcomed the change in the definitions of amalgamation and research and development, amortisation of pre-commencement expenditure and separate provisions for start-up businesses, saying that the initiatives were business-friendly.
The tax-free limit for individuals remained unchanged despite substantial inflationary pressure, which is a good move, he said, adding that imposing a capital gain tax for investments in government securities would increase the taxpayers’ tax burden.
Speaking at the news conference, ICAB Member Council Md Humayun Kabir said, “The existing tax structure will play a vital role in ensuring sustainable change, including keeping the competitiveness in the international market and inspiring FDI.”
“If the government can control the fiscal deficit and contain credit growth, revenue collection can be gained, and the government will be able to control inflation. We need to keep the expenditure under control to fulfill the budgetary target and implement the revenue target to curb the inflation,” he added.
ICAB council member Sabbir Ahamed said that the world has been witnessing a high inflation and supply chain disruption in the post-Covid economy. Like other nations, Bangladesh has taken several steps to curb inflation in the budget, he said.
ICAB CEO Shubhashish Bose, COO Mahbub Ahamed Siddique, Vice President N K A Mobin and council members Abdul Kader Joarddar, MBM Lutful Hadee, among others, also spoke at the press conference.
